Nilgiri Mountain Railway

641305 Mettupalayam, India (Tamil Nadu)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908,[1] and was initially operated by the Madras Railway. The railway still relies on its fleet of steam locomotives.
In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
For the past several years diesel locomotives have taken over from steam on the section between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam.
 

Operation

The NMR track is 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge and the railway is isolated from other metre gauge lines.

Between Mettupalayam and Coonoor, the line uses the Abt rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient. On this rack section trains are operated by 'X' Class steam rack locomotives manufactured by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works of Winterthur in Switzerland. These steam locomotives can be used on any part of the line (either with or without the rack section),but the newer diesel locomotives can operate on the entire section, between Mettupalayam and Udagamandalam.
 

Route

The 'Nilagiri Passenger' train covers a distance of 26 km (16.2 mi), travels through 208 curves, 16 tunnels,[2] and across 250 bridges. The uphill journey takes around 290 minutes (4.8 hours), and the downhill journey takes 215 minutes (3.6 hours) It has the steepest track in Asia with a maximum gradient of 8.33%.

Mettupalayam Station Station with the 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) (Indian Gauge) line from Coimbatore Junction. Passengers cross the platform to board the Nilagiri Passenger train (NMR). There is a small locomotive shed here and also the carriage workshops for the line.

Leaving Mettupalayam, the line is adhesion worked and actually drops for a short distance before crossing the Bhavani River, after which it starts to climb gently.

Kallar Station
Closed as a passenger station, this is where the rack rail begins. As the train leaves the station, the gradient is 1 in 12 (8.33%).

Adderly Station
Closed as a passenger station but is still a water stop.

Hillgrove Station
Block post and water stop, also has refreshments for passengers.

Runneymede Station
Closed as a passenger station but is still a water stop.

Kateri Road Station
Closed as a passenger station, trains do not stop here.

Coonoor Station
Main intermediate station on the line at site of the locomotive workshops as well as the top end of the rack rail. Trains must reverse a short distance before continuing their climb to Ooty. It is normal for the locomotive to be changed here with diesel traction, being normal for all trains to Ooty.

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